Categories: Children's Dentistry

Treatments For Your Child’s Smile

We offer care for your entire family, including kids of all ages! With good oral hygiene, regular visits, and treatments, we can help children maintain strong and beautiful smiles for years to come. In today’s blog, your Maple Grove, MN, dentist talks about our approach to children’s dentistry.

Children’s Checkups and Cleanings

We always start with a checkup and cleaning for children of all ages! The checkup enables our team to take a close look at a child’s teeth and gums, watching for issues that could cause trouble down the road, such as baby teeth failing to erupt and fall out on schedule, or even tooth decay and gingivitis. We can then recommend solutions to help preserve the smile. In the same visit, we will also clean the teeth, which involves removing all plaque and tartar with an ultrasonic scaling device and a manual pick, just as we do for adults. The cleaning helps lower the risk of tooth decay and other oral health concerns!

Preventing Tooth Decay

Our team can also offer unique preventive treatments designed to help lower the overall risk of tooth decay. For example, we can provide fluoride in a varnish form as part of the checkup visit, applying the mineral directly to the teeth to help strengthen the enamel, even the weakened portions, to lower the risk of cavities. We can also offer dental sealants, which are an acrylic coating added to the rear molars the teeth kids often have trouble reaching when they brush and floss. The sealants can stay in place for up to ten years, preventing food and drink particles from being stuck between the molars to limit the risk of tooth decay! Both options take seconds to apply, and kids just need to avoid food and drink for about 30 minutes.

Dental Fillings and Laser Dentistry

What if we find a cavity in your child’s smile? Then our team can help with a conservative approach to treatment! First, we will employ lasers to remove decay from the tooth, which preserves more of the tooth structure than a drill would, is comfortable and gentle. Once we have prepared the tooth, we will apply a filling material to it, a composite resin that contains no metal and that is safe for kids of all ages. We then cure the material with a light as we sculpt and mold it, ensuring a proper bite balance. The composite resin can be shaded to blend with the tooth and offer a more natural appearance.

If you have any questions about our approach to children’s dentistry, then contact our team today to learn more and make your child’s next appointment.